Landry lands title after surviving mid-round meltdown
The American Express report: What happened at La Quinta?
The California crowds were treated to a dramatic final round as Andrew Landry managed to secure his second PGA Tour title with a score of 26-under.
Birdie-birdie finish for @AndrewLGolf.
He seals the deal on win No. 2 of his career.#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/S5KvSlROSG
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 19, 2020
Heading into Sunday’s round Scottie Scheffler had a share of the lead alongside Landry and it was the latter that took control of the tournament from the off.
Three birdies and no dropped shots on the front nine had settled the American down and with Scheffler struggling Landry had his fate in his own hands.
He began the back nine with three consecutive birdies and this extended his lead to six shots and by this point there looked to be only one winner.
However, what followed sums up the game of golf. Landry, who had relied on solid putting throughout the week suddenly couldn’t hole a thing.
The 32-year-old missed putts from inside 15 feet on three consecutive holes and this led to bogeys on 13, 14 and 15 bringing his challengers back into the picture.
His main threat by this point was Abraham Ancer who was putting together a brilliant final round of 9-under and finished his game tied for the lead. This left Landry needing at least one birdie in his final two holes to win.
A dream round for @Abraham_Ancer just keeps getting better.
He’s tied for the lead heading to the 18th hole at @TheAmexGolf.#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/FzxRaEtSkU
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 19, 2020
He went one better than that and birdied both of his closing holes with a strong tee shot at the par-3 17th helping him to regain composure and close out the win.
Big moment.
Big pressure.
Bigger shot.@AndrewLGolf leads by 1 with one hole left to play at @TheAmexGolf.#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/TV6OfGzPWa— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 19, 2020
Scheffler did get his game together a little on the back nine and parred every hole until the par-5 16 where he eagled to pull within one of the lead but he could not pursue Landry any further.
Scottie Scheffler enters the fray with a big eagle on 16.
He's 1 shot back.#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/NK7URzBkYk
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 19, 2020
Rickie Fowler backed up his top-5 finish at the Tournament of Champions with a top 10 in California as he looks to get his game into championship-winning shape once again.
The American Express report: Anything else?
Pete Dye’s infamous greenside bunker on the 16 at PGA West’s Stadium Course received a fair amount of coverage this week and this brought out the best and worst of some aspects of the game.
First we saw Chez Reavie pull off one of the greatest sand saves to avoid dropping a shot but there was something off about Russell Knox’s brilliant escape a day later.
In the video clip of Knox’s bunker shot, his playing partner Kevin Na was heard making a remark that has led many to suggest backstopping had occurred. Here’s the full story.
Joe Hughes
Tour editor covering men's golf, women's golf and anything else that involves the word golf, really. The talk is far better than the game, but the work has begun to change that.
